Kagamine Rin no Ryokou
by MOSHIxMOSHI
Summary: What was meant to be a simple trip to the grocery store somehow became a journey to another dimension. Kagamine Rin becomes lost in a world full of supernatural creatures she'd assumed, and somewhat hoped, were just fictional. In the midst of it all Rin finds she's "mated" to a certain blonde wizard...


****_A/N: This is by far the longest one-shot I've ever written. I've worked on it for four days total so I really hope at least someone likes it..._

* * *

**Kagamine Rin no Ryokou**

_~Kagamine Rin's Ultimate Journey~_

**...**

"Rin, walk down to the store and get some eggs for mommy please? Thank you!"

Rin Kagamine groaned and he heard fell back into the couch. Did her mother _really _have to make her innocent, beautiful, awesome daughter walk _all the way _to the store when she was in the middle of reading an awesome fanfiction? The rattling of pots in the kitchen as Rin's mother prepared dinner was the answer to her unspoken question.

Yes, her mother really_ is_ a sadist.

Yellow painted fingernails lightly shut her laptop anyway and she solely stood from her comfortable position on the leather couch. A few joints popped as she fully stood and her eyes were a little tired from the blaring screen of her laptop. With a sigh she took her purse (her mother not offering any money for the groceries was further proof she was a sadist), a light jacket, and headed out the door.

Outside the weather was fair, maybe a little cool. The breeze was bordering wind but was still comfortable enough for Rin not to worry about her small Ponyo purse blowing away too far. After a few streets, almost halfway to the store, Rin heard a small mewl, nearly identical the that of a cat.

Actually, Rin realized when she saw a little ball of white fur, it _is _a cat.

_Don't do it Rin, _a voice in her heard warned, _it's too suspicious…_

The blonde nodded and attempted to walk on, head held high—until the pitiful little creature on the side of the road made another heartbreaking mewl. It was practically begging her…

_You've read the fanfictions—adorable cats ALWAYS lead little girls into evil lairs! _

But it was staring at her with those wide, watery kitten eyes, it's slightly dirty fur gleaming in the light with all the cuteness in the world sitting on its pink little button nose…

Before Rin realized it she was only about five feet from the kitten. One more step and the animal turned around, towards the forest, and it bolted.

_Rin, don't do this, _the voice began pleading.

But the poor little thing is going to get _eaten _in there!

_**You're **__going to get eaten in there!_

With total disregard to her "better judgment of mind" Rin took off after the Persian kitten, in the thick woods of impending death. Okay it was just some random woods…but death made it sound more dramatic and cooler.

Rin ran nearly blindly, the thick trees hundreds of feet above blocking out nearly all light, only allowing a sliver of golden rays to reach the leaf-covered ground every now and then. Her legs would get scraped and cut with bushes, vines, and tree branches every few seconds with the small pair of black mini-shorts she wore. She paid the slight stings of pain no mind though, stumbling through the blurred dark greens and blackish browns after the small dot of white ahead of her.

When she finally reached the meowing kitten she found herself in a perfectly cicle shaped clearing, almost as if it was an alien-made crop circle. There was a cut down tree in the middle, only leaving a hollow stump in the middle of the clearing. As she stepped closer to the white kitten she noticed how pitch black the hollow was. It nearly looked like an empty well going thousands of feet down.

_Maybe you're going to be like Alice in Wonderland—if a forest-dwelling child molester doesn't get to you first._

Rin ignored the inner voice with a mental eye roll and crouched down a good distance from the now quiet Persian kitten. She didn't want to risk the cat being scared off again and another ten minute pursuit in the woods...heh…PURRsuit.

"Here Kitty, Kitty~!" Rin whispered sweetly, making encouraging motions with her hands.

The kitten made a small questioning meow and took the tiniest step forward warily.

She beamed at the improvement, no matter how small it seemed. In her crouched stance she also took a baby step forward with her right leg, only for the every-cautious kitten to take one back, making the two a few inches further from each other than when they started. Rin frowned at this, flipping a pesky tendril of golden blonde hair from her eyes with a flick of her head. She regretted not putting on her usual white hairclips before she left.

Rin slowly stood, wincing of the pain of all of the scratches on her legs making themselves known with the movement. She put her right leg, the dominate one, a little bit behind her and slightly sank to her knees in a defensive stance.

_Please tell you're not really going to attempt this…_

Her inner voice was ignored and a determined glint appeared in her narrowed azure eyes as she watched the kitten determine its own battle preparation by leaping gracefully on the edge of the hollow stump. Rin would most likely regret this stupid move in the future, berating herself for dismissing the obvious hole in the stump, but right now this kitty was hers, whether he/she liked it or not. She was beginning to assume it was a "he" by its determination not to be loved by her—her high school love life was in a miserable state right now with the "single status" above her head like a gray raincloud.

Rin eased her weight on her back foot and the kitten crouched down slightly, releasing a small "hiss" from the back of his throat. Within the moment of a snap two crucial things in this story happened.

Rin shifted her weight again, lunging with outstretched arms for the white kitten who, once her first finger touched the tip of his fluffy fur, easily slipped down into the hollow tree stump. In the split-second before Rin began falling to her death she realized that _maybe, _just _maybe, _this whole thing had been a stupid idea.

_I told you so_, she vaguely remembered her mind muttering. Then everything went black.

And not black as if she passed out, she _wished _she'd passed out, but black as in somebody turned the lights off in a windowless room and proceeded to suck all possible lights out with a solar vacuum cleaner. It was _that _black. But she still felt everything, she felt herself falling at an alarming pace _much _longer than a normal tree stump would allow. She still felt her beat beating so hard and fast in her chest she thought she'd die from a heart attack if the fear didn't get to her first. Her mind was racing but at the same time sluggish as she continued to blindly fall ten, hundreds, thousands of feet—she didn't know. Within the first few moments the combination of her gravity, weight, and proportions had flipped her so that she would land on her butt first instead of splitting her head open, and after what seemed like forever she did land.

Into stone. On her ass.

A shrill cry escaped her lips once her butt made contact with the rock and she swore her hips had shattered for a few seconds. Once she finally regained the ability to stand and the throbbing, sharp ache in her behind faded a bit she shakily stood, her thighs sore from the awkward position they'd landed in and her right hand moved behind her to rub her butt.

Rin looked around warily, eyes slowly but surely adjusting to the new orange-red light of candles. Candles? She wasn't aware people even used them anymore for anything besides scent—and these didn't seem to smell like _Homemade Vanilla_ or _Hawaiian Breeze_. The walls were made of the same stone as the ground and wooden planks used as shelves stuck out every few places. The candles only provided little light in the cave-room-tunnel-thing and most of the room was left in shadows only, God knew what was there.

In the center of the room was a table of sorts the stretched out in a rectangle like the tables used in cafeterias or for big families. White linen lay over the table and various glasses and cup-shaped rocks decorated the table around a large black, cast-iron pot in the center as if a chef's ingredients. From the crappy candlelight she could see each glass contained a different colored dark liquid. One had a crimson liquid like blood, another had velvety dark purple and another with deep, forest green substance that was slightly bubbling with no heat under it.

Rin squeaked and jumped in surprise when a figure emerged from a dark hallway to her right. Almost torturously slow in her adrenaline-filled mind the silhouette stepped into the candlelight, the orange shine raising from the person's black shoe-clad feet and up. Once the full figure was revealed Rin would have laughed under different circumstances.

"You do realize Halloween has passed, right?" Rin asked in all honestly. The fear was quickly replaced with slight amusement and confusion at the blonde boy around her age in a cape and Victorian style gray button up top with orange and yellow accents and Victorian style black ¾ pants.

The boy looked thoroughly confused from both the question and seeing a stranger in front of him whom definitely wasn't there thirty minutes ago.

"…what?" He asked simply.

Rin's eyes motioned to his unusual outfit and pointy black hat for emphasis.

"Are you dressed up as a witch?"

Once the words left her mouth she knew she'd offended the blonde boy because his electric blue eyes narrowed into a vicious (well, as vicious as you can manage in a witch costume) glare and his hands rested on his hips.

"I am a _wizard!"_

_More like weirdo…_

If the boy was trying to look masculine and fearsome he was definitely failing in Rin's eyes. She had to bite her lip to keep from cracking up.

"Well, um, _wizard_, can you tell me…how to get the heck out of here?"

The wizard raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, all anger gone from his features.

"How did you get here in the first place, human?"

Human? Rin suddenly felt she was trapped in a dark cave with a psycho. The fact he dressed weird and considered himself a "wizard" already made him questionable but now referring to her as _human_? She took a step back just to be on the safe side.

"Well there was this cat and it was cute so I uh…tried to kidnap it…"

_Yeah, __**he's **__the crazy one…_

Rin inwardly glared at her inner voice. The wizard smiled anyway, a sort of recognition lit up in his eyes.

"Ah, you mean Piko?"

He made a snapping sound and the same white kitten from earlier immediately dashed from the hall the blonde boy had entered from and leapt in his arms. He stepped forward and held out the cooing kitten in his arms slightly as a silent offer to Rin. She hesitated for a moment, wondering if the feisty feline was going to scratch the hell out of his face if she got anywhere near it but to her surprise the little thing stayed calm as a cucumber if not affectionate when she gently took the him from the wizard's hands.

Piko mewled affectionately and licked the side of Rin's face, a completely different animal from when she'd picked him up earlier but Rin was happy nevertheless.

"Your name…?"

Rin smiled up at the blonde male who could easily pass as her twin.

"Kagamine Rin," she happily answered.

"Len," he replied just as kindly.

As ecstatic as Rin was to finally receive her well-deserved love from Piko she still had a bit of sense and normality left to remember that she was sorta in a _creepy dark cave with a complete stranger in the middle of the woods. _

"Sooo," she drawled slightly awkwardly, "how do I get out of here…?"

Len looked momentarily confused by her question before glancing at the table with various colored liquids she'd been looking at earlier, something akin to thoughtfulness in his blue eyes. Rin began to realize how cute the boy her age actually was. Maybe they could exchange numbers and meet again…

"I almost forgot humans can't use magic."

Yep, and he was back to just being creepy. Rin rolled her eyes and shifted her weight to accommodate Piko cuddling in her slowly beginning to ache arms.

"Okay, _Wicked Witch of the West, _well how _else _can I go back home?"

Len gave her another glare.

"I've told you once before, I'm a _wizard_—not a witch."

"I don't care what you are; just tell me how to get out of this dingy place!"

Len chose not to acknowledge that she'd described his place of residence _dingy_, but rather took the main topic into consideration. He _could _create another portal to the Other Side, but that'd take a lot of time and resources he didn't have at the moment, and it seemed the human girls was too impatient to wait more than a few minutes. Asking a more powerful witch or wizard…well that'd risk her getting eaten which would most likely not be so fun on her part.

On Rin's side she was growing steadily impatient. All she needed him to come up with was a map—not a twenty step algebraic expression.

"Can't you just give me a ladder or something?" She asked, shifting her weight again. Piko was all but dead asleep and, as adorable the little kitten was, his weight was starting to cut off her circulation.

Len looked slightly amused by the sudden question.

"A ladder? That isn't going to help at all—wait, which portal did you come through and why did you choose to come here?"

Portal…? Is that some new slang to refer to a tree stump?

"Uh…a tree…?"

Len frowned and reached out to grab her wrist, forcing Piko jump down and trail behind the two instead.

"Where are we going?"

"To visit the Witch of_ Wisdom_," Len answered. His voice sounded slightly sarcastic at the word "wisdom" but Rin chose not to comment as he dragged her out of the stone confinement.

Outside Rin was in awe—the sky was a dull _orange. _Not even sunset orange either. It looked like a polluted city sky—and yet there was a single piece of concrete or steel in sight. The buildings were all made of stone, wood, even a few huts made of browning leaves. The ground was all cobblestone and behind the many wooden houses was trees—almost like the whole city—or village—was made in a clearing of a desolate are of woods. Except there were people…or rather, _things. _

Horribly hideous things with leather-like skin and beady golden yellow eyes intermingled with average people as if the whole ordeal was normal. Even the "average" people had weird features if she looked closer; some were barefoot with tribal jewelry and loin cloths (ew, she thought), some had blood-red eyes and paper-white skin, and some were just generally _weird._

Rin wasn't an oversensitive person by any means but she swore _everyone _they passed were staring at her. Not just a "oh mah gawd, that Asian has yellow hair" stare like she usually got in her city, but the kind of stare she gave her oranges—or a piece of meat.

Rin took a few steps forward to walk with Len side-by-side now, feeling a little safer that way. Len switched his hold on her wrist to her hand to accommodate the new position. Rin definitely didn't complain—the rest of this place made Len look completely sane in comparison.

After a few more seconds of walking Len finally stopped at a normal sized door made of wood and cast-iron. It looked like one of those old doors from the movies with a large door knock and two thick, sideways bars of metal spaced out near the center. Len simply opened the door without a second thought and Rin suddenly felt like she was doing something illegal—if this place even had laws.

Inside Rin was only half-surprised the place looks as weird as Len's if not more. The walls were made of unfinished wood and a large lantern sat in the center providing more light than Len's place had but still not as much as she was used to with the little thing nearly everyone uses back at home called _electricity. _

There were several tables with no cloths but rather stains of liquids and acids (she was guessing) that had caused funnily shaped holes all the way through the table and a little bit of erosion on the stone floors. The whole room smelled oddly similar to sake…

"Well, well, well," A woman's voice called teasingly from the right.

Rin nearly had a heart attack as a tall woman with short brown hair and similar colored eyes with a red tint appeared.

"If it isn't little Len holding hands with a human girl…"

Len pouted slightly and let go of her left hand.

"Shut up, Meiko."

Meiko laughed at the boy's dismay and took a few steps closer to them. Piko looked a little scared of the outgoing woman and hissed from behind Rin.

Meiko suddenly grabbed Rin by the chin, a calculating look in her coconut-crimson eyes. Rin unintentionally made a small squeak from the sudden move. The heavy scent of alcohol burned her nose.

"You two look nearly identical. Hm, I wasn't aware Len was into incest—how kinky."

Len instantly flushed, sputtering out several excuses and "we are not even together"'s. Meiko finally released Rin, much to her relief, and turned her attention back to Len.

"So whatcha here for? I'm not the Witch of Love, y'know."

He roll his eyes at the slight implication of him seeking relationship advice with Rin but answered anyway.

"Rin," he gestured to said girl, "said she came here through a portal in a tree stump and somehow she ended up in my house."

Meiko frowned.

"That's not possible—"

"Are you calling me a liar?"

Meiko dismissed Rin's little question and continued.

"—unless you two are mated."

Len glared at Meiko for at least the third time since he'd seen her today. As usual Meiko loved to see him suffer mentally. He supposed he had it better than Kaito, the Wizard of Winter, whom Meiko loved to watch suffer _physically_. Either way the woman was still annoying.

"For the last time, Rin and I are _not _together."

Meiko frowned and made "shut up" motions with her hands.

"I know, I know, geez. Don't get your panties in a bunch. What I'm saying is there's only one portal to this world from their world in a tree stump and that portal _should _have taken her straight to the ogre's village. The only way for a portal's destination to be altered is if the traveler knows magic or the traveler has a mate in the other world."

Len blinked.

"So Rin might be a fairy and not know it."

Rin wrinkled her nose at the thought of dressing up like Tinker Bell and tossing fairy dust around the forest. Definitely _not _one of her career preferences. Meiko sighed, growing impatient.

"No Len, you and Rin are mated."

"We are no—"

"What is 'mated'?"

Both parties turned to the oblivious Rin and Len and Meiko exchanged looks, trying to pressure the other to explain it. Len, as expected, lost. He sighed and turned to face Rin fully, explaining softly.

"There is a theory that everyone in both worlds has one person they're destined to—or made for—and the bond between them is supposed to be only breakable by death. The two people with this bond are referred to as 'mated'."

"But what if they fall out of lov—"

"They can't."

"Or their destiny changes—"

"Impossible."

Rin pouted.

"But lots of couples breakup and—"

Meiko answered this time.

"Couples and mates are two different things in the Human World. In the Human World couples and partners can easily break up or fall out of love if the person is not their true mate but once you find your mate you both will love each other until one dies—then the other dies as well."

_That's sort of scary…_

It did make a little since though, Rin reasoned, he grandmother and grandfather mysteriously died at the same time of natural causes—and so did her best friend Miku's parents. Her azure eyes shifted over to Len in thought. He was already looking over her in a similar way. Is it really possible to be _mated _with him…? She didn't really know much about him yet and apparently they were of two different races and worlds.

"Can I change my mate," Rin asked Meiko, "I was kind of hoping for someone like Niall Horan or Taylor Lautner."

Len immediately looked extremely offended and Meiko nearly literally laughed her ass off.

"I like you, kid," Meiko announced with a pat on Rin's back.

After about another hour of chatter Len announced that they'd be going back. Rin found she really like Meiko. The woman teased and joked a lot but it was a little refreshing, and the woman had taken a liking to her as well. Piko still seemed to detest the loud woman though, and Len couldn't blame him.

The two, Rin and Len, were now walking back the way they came, side-by-side, Piko peacefully trailing behind them, happy to be out of Meiko's house.

Rin still felt as if she were in a backwards, twisted sort of dream and continued to look around the village in awe as she walked. There were stalls and tables selling random goods ranging from animal limbs to exquisite jewelry Rin have never seen before. One particular stall, ran by probably the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen, sold extremely beautiful turquoise necklaces and bracelets. The prices were written in some currency Rin didn't know but the jewelry seemed to be extremely high quality.

_Rin, don't you dare. Remember what happened with the cat? You ended up in an unknown, fantasy world. _

Rin supposed her inner voice was most likely right, as it usually was when she tried to jump a barbwire fence two years ago or fry oranges in a pan or chase adorable Persian kittens—but she was still alive wasn't she? And now, after all the dangerous and stupid things she'd ignored her inner from discouraging her on she had some _great _stories to tell. Who else in her school had shiny, polished turquoise jewelry from another world? Not many, that's for sure!

Since Len hadn't held her hand on the walk this time around Rin found is relatively easy to take a few steps to her right and end up at the jewelry stall she'd been eying. The owner looked extremely happy to see her but she supposed it was a response she'd get from any shop owners trying to make a quick buck on the side of the street.

She leaned over to examine a particularly beautiful silver ring when she suddenly felt breathing on her neck. Before her brain could even begin the to send signals to her body to move the woman grabbed her shoulders so tightly Rin swore it'd bruise and from the corner of her eye she could see the woman about to drop her head down to Rin's neck—the woman's canine teeth unnaturally sharp looking.

Mere moments before the woman's teeth were about to puncture her throat, however, she suddenly froze. Like seriously froze as if it was a movie and someone pressed pause. Before Rin could think on it any more, in the frantic, muddled state her mind was in, she felt an arm securely hook around her waist and pull her from the frozen woman's grip.

"Idiot," a familiar voice hissed in her ear behind her, "do you _want _to get killed? Don't let go of my hand when we're outside."

The frozen woman from before came back to life after a quick movement of Len's hand that wasn't around her waist. That's when Rin realized it must have been magic of some sort Len had used to stop the vampire from killing her.

As soon as the spell was released the woman continued the action, not realizing her hands were empty and she fell head-first into the stall with the pretty turquoise jewelry from the force she was using to sink her teeth into Rin's throat. Rin shivered slightly at that realization and watched the stall collapse under her weight before Rin was suddenly tugged from her left hand by Len.

Rin silently noted how much closer Len walked to her compared to before and a small feeling of butterflies built in her stomach. Even Piko seemed protective of her in a way, keeping close to her heels and hissing at anyone who stared at her—which was a lot of people.

Once they'd reached Len's house he led her to a room she hadn't seem before and she was surprised to see it looked like a normal bedroom. The walls were made of drywall like a normal room and painted a light shade of yellow. The floors were polished wood similar to the one in her own bedroom and there was a king sized bed with white sheets neatly made up, a dresser, a nightstand, a bookshelf, and even a large window on the side wall.

Len motioned for her to sit on the bed, which she did, and grabbed a first aid kit out of what she assumed to be a closet. Before she could ask what it was for he sat next to her and took one of her legs into his lap so now she had to sit at an angle and began to wipe the scratches and cuts with a disinfectant wipe. She's nearly forgotten she'd injured herself when she was running through the woods that morning.

Morning…she silently wondered how much time had passed since she'd been in this world.

"If you want to take a bath I's over there," Len suddenly informed, pointing to a white door next to the closet he'd been in earlier before reaching for her other leg and doing the same thing.

Rin quietly thanked him and stood once he'd finished with her legs. Piko rubbed against her leg and purred, just begging her to pick him up. She did, of course, and he snuggled against her chest in content. It seemed worth it to chase him through the woods and end up in another world mated with a witc—_wizard_—she corrected herself. Piko was just too adorable to regret.

Hm, she was sort of hungry now…maybe she could bake orange chiffon cake, all she needed was milk, eggs, flo—

Eggs, oh god, oh god, oh god!

"Len!"

Said boy tensed when Rin suddenly clutched the front of his top, desperation in her wide eyes.

"Yes…?"

"I can go back home, right? When?"

"Of course," He answered.

Rin let go of him and made a small cheer of joy in which Piko joined though not knowing what the situation was about.

"But," Len continued in the same voice and Rin stopped smiling.  
"But?" She pressed.

"It'll take a few days and you'll probably end up back here anyway."

Rin groaned and pouted, nearing the point of a tamtrum.

"Ehh, why?"

If Rin hadn't been so caught up in her own desires to go back home before her mother called the police and filed a missing persons report she would have noticed Len's slightly upset and depressed expression through the whole conversation.

"You ended up here in the first place because we're mated. So most likely destiny will try to bring us together again if you leave."

"B-but, what if I just don't go to any more portals or whatever?"

"There's over a hundred portals, Rin, and you can't exactly see them so it's nearly impossible."

Rin made a sound similar to a whine and fell back on the plush bed, forgetting it wasn't her own. Len wordlessly sat beside her and the room fell into a neither comfortable nor uncomfortable silence. Rin's thoughts were on her family, friends, and home. She couldn't just _abandon _them in another world, could she? Well, it wasn't even abandoning really, it wasn't exactly her attentions to be here in the first place. She still sort of maybe wanted to stay here…She hardly knew anyone outside of Meiko and Len but it was like an _adventure _being here.

On the other hand, Len's thoughts were similar. Rin definitely couldn't stay in his world forever, she'd most likely get eaten or killed within a week. Still, it'd take a lot of magic to send her back unless they wanted to take a year-long journey to the nearest portal—definitely not an option. It would sort of be nice if she stayed, maybe—and wasn't eaten of course.

"Meiko and Luka, the Witch of Love, will figure something out tomorrow."

* * *

In the morning, after a rather weird breakfast (Len apparently had an unhealthy obsession with bananas and banana-like foods) Rin and Len ended back at Meiko's place. Rin was already beginning to memorize the route; it was a fairly straight walk. Meiko was there with two other males and a graceful woman Rin thought looked out of place in the old house.

The woman had long, thick, light pink wavy hair down to her waist and motherly deep blue eyes. Her skin was fair and seemed to glow, even in the sucky candlelight Rin had slowly gotten used to.

"This is Luka, witch of lo—"

Before Meiko could even get the words out good Luka ran over to the blonde pair, expression similar to a rabid fangirl. Her eyes sparkled with joy like that of a mother and her hands smashed her cheeks together.

"Oh my gosh, you were right, Meiko, they're so cuuuuute!"

Mentioned woman blushed nearly as red as her outfit and stuttered out denying phrases in embarrassment at being caught saying such kind, sweet, _fluffy _words. The blue haired male laughed only to get hit in the face by a sadistic Meiko.

"You two are such perfect mates," Luka continued, "the mate spirit around you too is so bright. Waaah, how adorable!"

Rin was starting to get a little disturbed by the pink haired woman's fangirling and laughed nervously, taking a cautious step back. Piko seemed to like to woman though, rubbing against her leg eagerly.

"Anyway," Meiko finally broke in, regaining her composure, "she's the witch of love. She helps people find their mates, makes love potions, sees the bonds between people—all of that gross stuff."

Meiko pointed to the blue haired man clutching his bruised head.

"This is Baka-Kaito, the wizard of winter. He controls all things related to winter and ice cream."

Lastly she gestured to the teal haired guy on the other side of Kaito with short hair, a boyish grin on his face.

"That is Mikuo, he's just a vampire."

Mikuo frowned disapprovingly at her introduction to him but strided over to Rin anyway and took her right hand into his own before leaning down similar to the way a prince would and kissing the top of her hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Rin," He purred.

The gesture was promptly stopped by both Luka and Len who pushed him back.

"Nuh-uh," Luka said, "she's mated with Len."

Len nodded in agreement seeming not to like the vampire either. Mikuo pouted and loudly complained of them not being fun at all. Rin was just glad to be away from him—he creeped her out. She'd already had a not-so-pleasant run in with one vampire this week…

Within a few minutes the room became serious as discussion of the portal began. Rin learned there is a wizard of portals too, whom would be best for making and finding portals but he lived too far away to contact. Instead the group decided to combine their powers to perform a spell for portals. It would take a lot of time to find all of the ingredients and a lot of magic.

Apparently Mikuo was unneeded and just tagged along for fun. Meiko, noticing this, quickly found a solution.

"Mikuo, go get us all the stuff on this list. Kaito, take the other half."

The vampire groaned lazily.

"But there's so muuuuch."

"It's not like you're busy," Len added pointedly. He and Rin were currently sifting through Meiko's supplies to look for something they already had.

Kaito, having suffered enough beating from Meiko in his lifetime, dragged Mikuo along without complaint.

"What's this?" Rin asked, pulling out a jar of crunchy looking tan things. It looked sort of yummy, like caramel. Len glanced up for a moment before answering.

"Dehydrated rat carcasses."

Rin made a face of disgust and carefully set the jar down back in its place.

Luka and Meiko were discussing how and where they'd make the portal over a large pot filled with a few simple things they'd already had. Luka was stirring the bubbling material with a large wooden spoon, old book full of spells at her side. Rin half expected the woman to break out into evil laughter like the witches from cartoons. She did laugh for a second. It just didn't sound witch-y.

"Rin, be careful with that," Len suddenly advised.

Rin glanced down at the jar she'd just picked up to see what it was. It was a clear liquid, looking as harmless as water. She was still wary after the 'caramel' thing though.

"It's acid. If it leaks from the jar it'll burn right through your ha—"

"KYAA!"

Meiko and Luka snapped their heads over to Rin and Len in concern. The girl was nearly hysterical with fear, tearing up and screaming at an extremely high pitch while Len…well Len was laughing his butt off.

"Get it offff! Len, help meeee!"

Meiko made a move to help the girl and see what was wrong but Luka held her back, whispering something in her ear about "a romantic RinxLen moment" and giggling.

Once Len's laughter had died down a little he finally helped Rin—with the tarantula crawling across her lap. Len picked the confused spider by one of its prickly, hairy legs and calmly sat it down back in its place, one of the jars with small air holes. Rin quickly stood and furiously rubbed her legs in attempt to erase the spider's touch.

"Are all humans afraid of spiders?" Len teased between laughs.

Rin glared at him and huffed. Meiko grinned a bit before resuming adding various things to the pot and Luka quietly gushed about Len being Rin's "knight in shining armor" and "savior". Meiko told the witch of love she was full of crap but she secretly agreed that the two were a little cute together.

…

Mikuo sighed, arms behind his head as he walked the long path from the markets with Kaito. His companion, although a good friend, was boring the hell out of him and his feet were aching terribly. He decided to start a conversation.

"I'm surprised that girl hasn't been eaten by ogres yet," he began thoughtfully.

"Well she's with Len," Kaito replied simply.

"Yeah, but still…she's pretty cute though."

Kaito gave the man a sharp side-ways look.

"She's mated with Len," he warned, echoing Luka's words from before.

Mikuo rolled his eyes and the pair fell silent again. Both lists were already about one-third down each and the sun was beginning to set. Street vendors and merchants were starting to close down their shops while the younger generations were meeting up and joining parties as the nightlife began.

* * *

The next few days went on similarly; everyone gathering by noon to work on the spell and not leaving until sunset. Soon a few days became a week and a week become many, and Rin felt she'd learnt so much. Aside from another world and fantasy creatures actually existing in real life she learned about the people she had come to call friends—and they called her the same. Especially Len, she learnt about him the most.

She now knew his favorite food, favorite color, the passing of his parents, how he'd found Piko at his doorstep, his interests, hobbies, a few of the spells and potions he could use, and many more small details. Rin found he was a very loyal, generous—but sometimes easily annoyed person. She could relate to him on another level apart from everyone else, it seemed, and he felt the same with her. Luka insisted it must be a work of the "mate bond" but Rin learned to brush off half of the things the pink-haired shipper spoke of.

Finally the last day had arrived, before Rin knew it. The spell was finished by early afternoon and everyone was gathered at Meiko's house like usual.

With a few confusing hand motions Luka and Kaito suddenly raised their arms to an empty space in the far side of the room and small spark appeared. The spark gradually grew a tail, then spinning like a hurricane until a large white oval mysteriously floated in the spot, almost blindingly bright and still swirling lividly.

Rin suddenly felt a little nervous.

"You can go now—but hold your breath or it'll get knocked out of you from the speed," Meiko informed, her voice cracking suspiciously as if she was holding back tears.

Before Rin could analyze Meiko's odd voice any further Luka pulled her into a one-armed hug, the other arm still outstretched towards the white light. Rin vaguely realized her shoulder was becoming wet and Luka wailed muffled "I'll miss you"s and "you'd better come back soon"s.

The blonde just nodded and patted the witch's back awkwardly.

"Oi," Mikuo suddenly interrupted, "you're going to use up all of your energy before she leaves if you keep making a scene."

His words may have been harsh but a reassuringly saddened grin was on his face, expressing his hesitation for Rin to leave as well. By now Meiko and Kaito were both bawling—though Kaito's could have been because of the nothing-held-back punches on his arm Meiko was giving him. Apparently to brunette hit Kaito when she was sad too…

When Luka finally let go (after a few more serious warnings from Mikuo and Len) Rin stepped forward, ready to walk through the portal that separated the Human World from the Other World.

"Bye, Rin," Len muttered awkwardly.

Luka scoffed.

"What do you mean _bye? _You're going with her of course—you have to walk your mate home you know, be a gentleman."

Luka harshly pushed him forward with one arm, causing Rin and Len to both stumble into the portal. The last thing they heard was Mikuo's guffaws at Len's expense and the persistent sobbing of Kaito and Meiko.

The last thing Rin felt was Len locking arms with her before they were sucked into a brilliant white light.

Rin felt as if she was on a fighter jet, going at least a million miles per hour in an undetermined direction. Her mind couldn't keep up at all and felt muddled as if she'd just woken up. The trip back was definitely _much _worse than the trip there, she noted.

However, although the journey felt like an hour, the movement stopped and the white lights finally went away. She lost her balance from suddenly being on the ground again but Len's arm was still locked on hers to keep her from completely falling to the ground. Len seemed used to the trip but it didn't look like her particularly liked it either. Rin blinked slowly, her eyes slowly adjusting to the new scenery.

It was the same place she'd came—the clearing in the forest. It felt foreign though, compared to time she'd spent in the Other World this place seemed like a distant memory. But, oddly enough, everything looked exactly the same as when she'd left, as if not a single day had went by.

"When you visit to Other World time here stays almost the same until you return," Len explained, "you'd only been gone for a few minutes in the Human World's time—and if you return to the Other World the same applies."

Rin decided not to question the seemingly impossible theory—because, hey, nothing seemed impossible anymore after the past few weeks she'd had.

She took an almost cautious step forward, the scene finally beginning to feel more familiar and like home…well as homey and a random forest could get. She suddenly realized she still had no idea how to get home from here.

Luckily Len seemed to have a decent sense of direction.

"What city do you live in?" He asked.

"Crypton," Rin answered.

Len pointed to a direction Northwest of their current location. Rin nodded and let Len take the lead, guiding them out of the nearly mile-deep forest and back to a more familiar setting—the sidewalk she'd found Piko on.

"The residential area is over there," Len informed, gesturing to the road she'd been walking on earlier that morning, human time.

"Ah!"

Len jumped at the sudden outburst, looking Rin over with a concerned expression.

"Do you mind if we go to the store real quick first?"

Len smiled and shook his head, Rin leading this time.

It seemed almost comical now, Rin thought, buying the eggs that had started the whole mess. She couldn't stop giggling and grinning as she searched for them and purchased them, dismissing Len's questions and confused look at her secret joke. It was a little depressing too. It was like signifying the end of their time together…ah, she was just thinking too much.

The walk to Rin's house was silent—not because neither had anything to say but rather they had so _much_to say and were unsure on stating it outloud. The two silently took note that they were both walking a little slower than usual, even if they weren't tired at all and both knew the way. Their time together was wearing extremely thin, getting smaller and smaller by each step.

Once they reached Rin's street, only two houses away, Len suddenly stopped. She stopped and turned around to face him, questioning him with her eyes. Len looking away, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I can't go any further than this—and I don't have much time either or Luka and Kaito won't be able to keep the portal open."

Rin nodded thoughtfully, biting her lip in attempt to keep her from tearing up.

Len stepped forward and took her hands into his own, meeting her eyes. Rin's breathing became shallow and a full minute seemed to pass as they stared into each other's eyes before Len spoke again.

"You're going to visit again, right?" He asked quietly, as if unsure of himself.

Rin smiled and nodded quickly.

"Of course," she answered just as quietly.

Len looked away, embarrassed and Rin almost laughed—until he suddenly leaned in and pecked her on the lips.

The kiss was quick, hardly even a kiss but it left Rin blushing nonetheless and Len bid her a final goodbye before they both slowly turned and began walking in different directions, both feeling slightly tingly.

Rin felt lightheaded when she stepped into the house and she mechanically walked into the kitchen to hand her mother, whom was still busy cooking as she was when Rin left, the carton she'd asked for. Her mother smiled upon seeing it and eagerly took them, ready to add them to her biscuits.

"You took quite a while, did something happen?"

Her mother asked.

Rin plopped down on the living room couch and set her laptop back in it's rightful place in her lap. Once the computer was opened the screen lit up back to the fanfiction she was reading as she had left it.

"Not much," Rin lied.

She closed the fanfiction website out and opened Word Document instead. A grin found it's way on to her lips and she began to type out a title.

Rin had her own story to write now—one in which she'd need a lot more experience with. With that thought, and the sweet promise of visiting Len again, Rin began to create her masterpiece; she expected no less than a hundred reviews.

* * *

_A/N: Thank you so much for reading all of that, I hope you liked it even if just a tiny bit. ^^_


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